Pakistan’s Papa Nuke on the Loose

A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, has been released from house arrest after the Islamabad High Court declared him a "free citizen."

Khan had been confined to his home since 2004, after he confessed on national television to giving away Pakistan’s nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Last year, however, he recanted his confession, saying he had been unfairly scapegoated; and as the U.K. Guardiannotes, his house arrest "had been progressively relaxed over the past year." Khan was allowed to give a few interviews and traveled once to Karachi; heck, he even got a smart new personal website.

The court reportedly absolved Khan of any involvement in nuclear proliferation. But lest we forget, Khan was at the center of a nuclear smuggling ring that made the world a much less safe place. In some cases, the Khan network had the full support of Pakistan’s government; in the case of the sale of a nuclear "do it yourself" kit to Libya, it was a freelance affair. Volumes have been written on Khan’s role — I’d recommend reading Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark’s Deception or Gordon Corera’s Shopping for Bombs — and this story is far from over. If you want a good scare, this is history worth reading.